MYCDM 10

Chapter 10

“She can’t read?”

Luke gripped the edge of the table tightly.

Luke, who had taken a room on the floor below Shia’s, seemed to sense that Shia found him difficult, so he had called Michael to check on Shia’s condition.

For Michael, he could not refuse the summons of Luke, the Emperor’s first husband, the most trusted knight, and a member of the Volonte family that commanded the military.

“They must have been afraid that she would gain knowledge and realize her situation was strange, so they didn’t teach her.”

At Michael’s answer, a thud sounded. The corner of the table had completely shattered.

Michael glanced at the table and then averted his gaze.

“And that bastard?”

Luke’s eyes were bloodshot.

Even with such a simple question, Michael knew who Luke was referring to. He must be asking about the kidnapper.

“Lord Elihu plans to transport the kidnapping-related individuals separately by ship.”

“….”

The sound of Luke grinding his teeth could be heard.

“Lord Luke, I understand your feelings, but I had them moved separately on purpose.”

Luke silently looked at Michael.

“The Princess believes the ringleader of the kidnapping is her father. She also has an imprint on that man.”

“What?”

Luke’s brow furrowed even more.

That was to be expected—if the imprint was maintained, they would be connected all this time. Just as Shia’s imprint had remained connected to Michael for so long without being severed.

That was why when one of those bound by an imprint died, the shock was transmitted to the other.

“It must be severed immediately.”

Luke said, as if it were a matter not even worth considering.

“The Princess cannot handle her abilities well. Imprints are particularly delicate, so wouldn’t it be better to receive His Majesty’s help?”

“…His Majesty will want to kill that bastard the moment she sees him. And slowly, in the most painful way possible.”

Luke said coldly with an expressionless face.

As if Michael, who had served the Emperor closely for a long time, wouldn’t know that.

“For the sake of minimizing the shock to the Princess, it would be better to sever it in advance. I heard the Princess relies on you?”

Luke only lifted his eyes to look at Michael.

Michael knew it too. That Shia followed him especially closely.

Michael himself, though he didn’t show it outwardly, felt a strange affection for Shia.

The Princess, who had been unseen for fifteen years, was utterly unfamiliar, yet he felt as glad and precious as if he had met someone he had waited for a long time.

Even though she was thin and haggard, he found her lovable.

Strictly speaking, Shia’s appearance wasn’t even Michael’s type.

This is how frightening imprints were.

And wasn’t Shia’s position different from his own?

Shia was the Emperor’s only child. If Shia were to sever the imprint and abandon him at any time, Michael would have no future.

Abandoning someone bound by an imprint was not an unfamiliar occurrence in Tashin’s social circles. Michael was making an effort not to become too accustomed to this strange intimacy.

“If the person she has known as her father for so long is revealed to be a kidnapper, it will be difficult for her to accept.”

To reduce the shock Shia would receive, Michael said this to Luke.

“I heard Aksa nearly got assassinated in Arune? There’s no way you didn’t feel that Ring—even I felt it from the corner of Tashin.”

The Imprint.

It was true that because of it, Shia’s Ring sent from the threat of death had sounded more intensely to Michael than to anyone else.

That was why he had rushed out of the imperial palace, knowing he would be punished by the Emperor.

Not only that. Michael had used his abilities to run as if flying to Fthia, the coastal city bordering Arune, in just one day.

In truth, there would be a reprimand from the Emperor upon returning to the imperial palace.

Well, since he was bringing Shia, perhaps the reprimand would be meaningless?

In fact, Michael had only been able to have these thoughts after meeting Shia and feeling settled.

That was how dire the imprint was.

“The assassin wasn’t hired by the kidnapper. It’s more urgent to first investigate who hired the assassin….”

Michael tried to change the subject to divert Luke’s peculiar anger.

But Luke was not fooled. Rather, he called Michael in a low, somber voice.

“Michael Eshkenazi.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“What I want is not your excuses. I simply want my daughter to sever that despicable bastard’s imprint without suffering mental shock!”

“I will do my best.”

“Merely doing your best won’t suffice. Make sure it’s completely severed before meeting His Majesty the Emperor.”

“…Yes.”

As if Michael didn’t want to sever that imprint himself.

But Shia was still adapting to him. What if Shia, who didn’t know how to handle her abilities, accidentally severed even her imprint with him while trying to sever the other?

Michael had to be cautious.

If he acted recklessly and fell out of Shia’s favor, everything Michael had built up over the years would come to nothing.

As with all power, now was the time when Shia was giving her heart to him. There was no reason for him to step forward and make unnecessary trouble.

So he only gave Luke a satisfactory enough answer.

In truth, even if Shia arrived at the imperial palace without severing the imprint, Luke had no way to confirm it. Michael himself couldn’t see the traces of the imprint either.

The only one with the ability to distinguish such things was probably Emperor Esti.

‘Perhaps His Majesty the Emperor will see the other imprint on Shia’s body and forcibly sever it herself.’

An imprint connected to a kidnapper.

That Emperor Esti would not tolerate it.

Michael intended to wait until the day Esti met Princess Aksa in person.

That was why Michael had deliberately left even Bvinnna to Elihu.

To leave behind as many of the kidnapping-related individuals as possible, and let the Emperor enjoy the joy of finding her daughter.

Afterwards, when the Emperor’s shattered mind had calmed down somewhat, he planned to persuade her that the kidnappers shouldn’t be killed immediately, even for the sake of revealing the truth of that day.

There was no reason to solve a problem that would naturally sort itself out.

Luke’s fuss was just due to his exceptional love for his child, so Michael just needed to pretend to obey.

“Lord Imperial Consort, why don’t you speak to Princess Shia as well?”

Michael said with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“….”

Luke gave no answer.

He was that kind of person.

Luke was an underrated figure relative to his abilities. Because he was taciturn and brusque, he often invited misunderstanding.

Fortunately, his straightforward character caught the eye of Emperor Esti, earning him infinite trust. Thanks to that, he had firmly established his position as the First Imperial Consort.

Although the Emperor had publicly declared that the father of Princess Aksa at the time of her birth was Simon, Luke never doubted that Princess Aksa was his own daughter.

And as a child, Aksa had followed Luke quite well.

The only Imperial Consorts Aksa had called ‘Daddy’ among the many were Luke and Simon.

Luke had spent fifteen years searching for the child, both because he truly loved Princess Aksa and….

Unfortunately, Shia found him difficult due to that same brusque attitude of his.

Well, in fact, Luke’s attitude being like that was rather fortunate for Michael.

Because it meant Shia’s only person to rely on in this unfamiliar Tashin was limited to Michael.

From Fthia, the carriage carrying Shia traveled toward the Tashin imperial palace, stopping only for meal times.

Around the carriage carrying Shia, a large group of mounted knights moved together.

Except for meal times, the carriage moved as long as Shia wasn’t overexerted, and in the afternoons, they would stay at lodgings.

Michael rode in the carriage beside Shia, and even while the carriage was moving, he continued to teach Shia Tashin script or tell her about Tashin culture.

The stories of Tashin were unfamiliar and fascinating to Shia.

Having been sick for so long, almost anything would have been interesting to Shia, who had little knowledge, but even setting that aside, Michael was a good storyteller. He was also quite skilled at speaking according to the other person’s mood.

In fact, from Michael’s perspective as well, it was easy to deal with Shia, who listened purely and attentively.

“What kind of person is His Majesty the Emperor?”

In truth, that was what Shia was most curious about. And Michael was the one who had seen the Emperor most closely and frequently than anyone in the world.

“When Shia was Princess Aksa, you left an imprint on me. I mentioned it before—do you remember?”

“Yes.”

“The reason His Majesty the Emperor was able to find the Princess through Lord Luke over those long fifteen years was because of the imprint engraved on my body.”

“Ah.”

“Can Shia see it too? My imprint from Shia?”

“Oh, that… I can see something shimmering here.”

Shia pointed to Michael’s forehead.

Michael also touched his own forehead and spoke.

“His Majesty the Emperor seems to have seen it too. So whenever she thought of the Princess, she would summon me and drink. Since she would look at this spot particularly intently, I suspected there was a trace here as well.”

“Am I really Princess Aksa?”

“Yes. Without a doubt. There is no more certain witness than me.”